Persuading Iraqi army not to fight
The US worked with Iraqi officers to undermine Saddam's defense of Iraq.
"...People behind the effort, including Iraqis who were involved inside the country, said in interviews that they had succeeded in persuading hundreds of Iraqi officers to quit the war and to send their subordinates away. Iraqi military officers confirmed that after Americans and Iraqis made contact with them, they carried out acts of sabotage and helped disband their units as the war began.
"American officials and two Iraqi exiles who played central roles said the American military spirited out of the country several high-level Iraqi military and intelligence officers who had cooperated with the United States and its allies."
"...Iraqis and officials from other Arab countries who were involved in the operation said American contacts with Iraqi officers were arranged beginning in late 2002 by Jordanian intelligence officers who were working with American Special Forces and C.I.A. agents. They said that the operation had been led by the military's super-secret Task Force 20 and that the contacts had included phone calls, e-mail messages, visits and in some cases the payment of substantial sums of money."
"...In an interview, Colonel Suwadi said that a month before the war began, he started neglecting the pontoon bridges for which he was responsible. He also began telling his 150 men that they could go home. By early April, Colonel Suwadi said, most of his men had gone home.
"'There was no one left in my unit — just me and my driver,' said the colonel, who said his brother had been killed during the 1991 Shiite uprising. When orders came during the American-led invasion to blow up bridges in their path, he did nothing, he said...."
"...By the time the war began, Mr. Jubouri said, he had secured a cease-fire agreement from a garrison at Mosul. On April 9, leading a group of about 150 fighters, he said he took the town without firing a shot.
"'We didn't call it a surrender, because we took no prisoners and we let them keep their guns,' he said. 'They all went home.'"
The US worked with Iraqi officers to undermine Saddam's defense of Iraq.
"...People behind the effort, including Iraqis who were involved inside the country, said in interviews that they had succeeded in persuading hundreds of Iraqi officers to quit the war and to send their subordinates away. Iraqi military officers confirmed that after Americans and Iraqis made contact with them, they carried out acts of sabotage and helped disband their units as the war began.
"American officials and two Iraqi exiles who played central roles said the American military spirited out of the country several high-level Iraqi military and intelligence officers who had cooperated with the United States and its allies."
"...Iraqis and officials from other Arab countries who were involved in the operation said American contacts with Iraqi officers were arranged beginning in late 2002 by Jordanian intelligence officers who were working with American Special Forces and C.I.A. agents. They said that the operation had been led by the military's super-secret Task Force 20 and that the contacts had included phone calls, e-mail messages, visits and in some cases the payment of substantial sums of money."
"...In an interview, Colonel Suwadi said that a month before the war began, he started neglecting the pontoon bridges for which he was responsible. He also began telling his 150 men that they could go home. By early April, Colonel Suwadi said, most of his men had gone home.
"'There was no one left in my unit — just me and my driver,' said the colonel, who said his brother had been killed during the 1991 Shiite uprising. When orders came during the American-led invasion to blow up bridges in their path, he did nothing, he said...."
"...By the time the war began, Mr. Jubouri said, he had secured a cease-fire agreement from a garrison at Mosul. On April 9, leading a group of about 150 fighters, he said he took the town without firing a shot.
"'We didn't call it a surrender, because we took no prisoners and we let them keep their guns,' he said. 'They all went home.'"
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